Newcastle United should apologise to Matty Longstaff and then offer him a chance to prove himself in the first team - according to John Gibson.
Longstaff featured only five times in the 2020-21 campaign and despite signing a new deal with a pathway to first-team football promised, hasn't really been handed an opportunity by head coach Steve Bruce.
Speaking on The Everything is Black and White Podcast, Gibson was asked by host Andrew Musgrove what United should do with Longstaff this summer.
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"We've got to keep him and treat him better. [If he's knocking on Bruce's door demanding answers] I wouldn't blame him one iota - he is a talent.
"They've got to get him in the side and say to him 'I'm sorry for what happened to you last season and with hindsight it was unfair - you'll get a proper crack of the whip this year.'
"But if I was him, I would look at the situation and see the way I was treated before my original contract run-out, how I was treated since then...he played against the three top teams and wasn't seen again.
"I would keep him and apologise to him but if I were him, I want to be out of the door."
Longstaff signed a new deal last summer after a long-drawn-out process where it looked at one stage he may move to Udinese. He finally signed a two-year deal but with first-team football limited, may look to move elsewhere this summer.
